A report examining menstruation and its management from the perspective of women and girls in the Kedougou Region of Senegal. These range from an inability to exercise their rights and access services due to the silence and stigma that surround menstruation, to poor menstrual hygiene practices and waste management....

This is a short multi-media piece that highlights the devastating impact of India’s sanitation crisis on women. It was produced in support of a 2014 research study called Sanitation Vulnerability: Women’s stress and struggles for violence-free sanitation....

The ground-breaking report highlights the plight of voiceless, underserved groups, and their need for safe and satisfactory sanitation and hygiene. “Leave No One Behind” summarizes the sanitation and hygiene hopes and aspirations of thousands of women and men of different ages and physical ability, across rural and urban areas...

In the present report, the Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons presents the findings of her visit to Mauritius from 28 April to 8 May 2015. The main objective of the visit was to identify both best practices and gaps in the implementation...

In the present report, the Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons presents the findings of her visit to Austria from 22 to 30 January 2015. The main objective of the visit was to identify both best practices and gaps in the implementation of...

In the present report, the Independent Expert on the Enjoyment of All Human Rights by Older Persons presents the findings of her visit to Slovenia from 17 to 21 November 2014. The main objective was to identify both best practices and gaps in the implementation of existing laws related...

In this report, the Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons addresses the right to autonomy and care, which she considers to be priority areas. The report provides an overview of the existing international and regional human rights standards and analyses in depth these...

This working paper is one of the five country studies on cash transfer programmes and women’s empowerment. The review of the South African experience in this study is complemented by country studies on Brazil, Chile, India and Mexico. Its results have also informed a comparative study, authored by Elaine...

This document was prepared in 2015. It contains, for the constitutions of 21 Latin American countries, a compendium of their provisions that affirm the right to social security, social protection, or social assistance; obligations of the State to protect individuals against specific social risks or to protect specific vulnerable...

The purpose of this handbook is to assist those working directly with people living in extreme poverty to understand the latter’s situation from a human rights perspective, and to suggest actions that can be taken with local governments and other sectors of society to ensure that their rights are...

Nature of the Case Four petitioners—including the Center for Health, Human Rights & Development (CEHURD) and two family members of  women who died during childbirth—appeal the Constitutional Court’s dismissal of their petition in which they alleged that the government violated the Constitution by failing to provide basic maternal health...

The issue of social protection has undergone something of a renaissance in the development policy debate in recent years and has lately become a particular focus of interest for several international organizations, first and foremost the International Labour Organization with its Social Protection Floor Initiative. What’s more, promoting social...

Unacceptable forms of work (UFW) have been identified by the International Labour Organization as work in conditions that deny fundamental principles and rights at work, put at risk the lives, health, freedom, human dignity and security of workers or keep households in conditions of poverty. This study contends that...

Basic social services such as education, water and sanitation, health care and housing are intended to meet essential human needs. States are responsible for guaranteeing equal access to these services, either through direct provision or through the regulation of services provided by the private sector and civil society organizations....

This report provides evidence that social protection is an effective instrument to reduce inequalities, and by so doing, contributes to the integration of the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. It examines in particular the inequalities faced by children, persons of working-age, older persons and in relation...

This paper seeks to estimate the costs and impacts of expanding the coverage and improving the quality of cash transfers to older people and to families with young children in the countries of Latin...

Nature of the Case This case came before the Supreme Court on appeal, and constitutes a challenge to one aspect of the Affordable Care Act, specifically regarding whether subsidies can be provided to low-income people buying health insurance through federal exchanges. These subsidies are vital in enabling people to...

This brief synthesizes research findings, analysis and policy recommendations on creating an alternative gender-responsive macroeconomic agenda. Macroeconomic policy, including fiscal and monetary policy, is often thought of as gender-neutral. But economic policy choices affect women and men differently because of their different positions in the economy, both market (paid)...

This brief synthesizes research findings, analysis and policy recommendations on transforming pension systems to reduce gender gaps and protect women’s income security in old age. Ageing has a female face. Women not only live longer than men but are also less likely to enjoy income security and economic independence...

This brief synthesizes research findings, analysis and policy recommendations for realizing the triple dividend from early childhood education and care (ECEC) services. ECEC services have come to occupy an important place on the global policy agenda. While some developed countries have long invested in this area, a growing number...

This brief synthesizes research findings, analysis and policy recommendations on making social protection floors work for women. The idea of a social protection floor (SPF) is now firmly established on the global development agenda. Defined as a set of minimum guarantees, including basic income security for children, working-age adults,...

The UN Women policy brief series synthesizes research findings, analysis and policy recommendations on key policy areas around gender equality and women’s rights in an accessible format. The series aims to bridge the research and policy divide by identifying issues that require urgent policy attention and propose a set...

The report looks at the existing social protection schemes in the ASEAN Member States from the angle of the four guarantees of the social protection floor, that are: health care for all and income security for children (including access to necessary goods and services), those in working age, and...

The book is aimed at international and national decision-makers at all levels, as well as academics and university students interested in learning more about the development of the region’s social protection policies and programmes. It is hoped that it will prove particularly useful to those responsible for designing, executing,...

Nature of the Case In views adopted under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Committee on Elimination of Discrimination against Women held the United Republic of Tanzania accountable for multiple violations of women’s rights, particularly as relates to...